Rebounding
by Duffums
Summary: She needed him to let go of her past. And he needed to kill her. AU. Non-explicit character death.


**A/N: **OMG THE RABID CRACKPAIRBUNNIES HAVE TAKEN OVER. So, here begins a tale of JuugoxSakura. Yep, you heard right. Juugo and Sakura. Mind you, this is AU, so stuff happens that doesn't happen in Canon (not to say I wish this did). This story mention love but THIS. ISN'T. ROMANCE. This is a tragedy/angst. Well, at least I think it is.

I don't own ANYTHING. AT ALL. EVER. But I reserve the right to believe that this should be canon, because I am insane. XD

So yeah. HERE IT BE:

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Their fights are endless, their weapons dancing off of each other and shining like mercury in the moonlight.

Their lives are empty, each grasping onto a dream that could never be fulfilled. They are the same in every possible way, but even still, they are two completely different monsters.

**Did you know orange and pink are both born of the same color?**

They are._ The color red._ Red represents many things: red for blood, red for death, for desire and destruction and fire. Pink cherry blossoms are supposed to be graceful, beautiful flowers.

Her grace died the day the boy with hair the color of sunshine went down in the history of gods, with a hole in his chest and a smile on his face. Her beauty died the day the boy with the eyes of everlasting hatred was found bloody and defeated, his sternum caved in.

But then…salvation, in the form of not a boy, but a man. He possessed two souls, one gentle, one evil. Needless to say, it reminded her of the two boys who had lived, loved, and died together.

**Best of both worlds, you say? **_**Wrong**_**.**

Which brings us back to the first scene. One of a fight in the dark, kunai and shuriken sweeping across the air, cutting the midnight fog. He lands hits, pummeling her ribs, hoping inwardly to break a bone. The satisfying crunch eases his mind. A barely inaudible sigh escapes his chapped lips.

The black marks stretch across pale skin, liquid evil clouding his vision, making him hate her. He wants her to die. _So very much. _She is the only person he has ever _wanted_ to kill. It hurts him to say this, but he _needs _to kill her. So that only he can have her. The darkness is spreading, whispering sweet, wicked thoughts into his head, and the comforting presence of Kimimaro isn't there to cage him.

The smell of ozone fills the air. The roar and hiss of chakra on a fragile hand breaks the silence. Such a massive amount of chakra could normally only be weld by a larger male shinobi.

But she isn't normal. She has never been normal, and she never will be normal. Her eyes are twin pieces of green ice. Her gaze is unfeeling. Fists clenched, mouth in a feral snarl that holds both disgust and need.

**It is the years of killing families and losing friends that creates this monster inside of her. **

All she cares about is making him pay, the anger pulsing in her brain. She lands barrages of lightning quick punches on him, the grunts and yells of pain caressing her ears, a grin crossing her face.

_Her old one-eyed sensei always told her she was a sadist. The bodies of enemy shinobi were discovered, spines bent backwards on poles and suspended from ceilings by their decaying innards._

They fight. They fight to let it all out. The rage and anger is never spoken of, but communicated through bone-snapping punches and hoarse yells of suffering. They are both animals. Dirty, disgusting, backstabbing animals. They plead to each other with breaking eyes, they allow each other to rip out their hearts, stuff them back in, and continue like nothing happened. This is the life they lead.

He regains control. The ink subsides. She ends her frenzy. Jumping and skidding on the cold, packed earth. Underneath them lie the bodies of comrades, their hands reaching towards Heaven, begging for freedom. The man and the woman have freedom, but they are not free. They are chained by the exact thing that sets them free. Pain. Loss. Sorrow for those who brought light into life. They are breathing new life into each other, but also taking away the old life drop by crimson drop.

**They love each other. But the love of fighting, of hurting another, is far too great.**

**She is broken. Both her heart and her soul have blackened and turned to ash.**

**He is broken. His mind has crumbled; his heart has caved into lust. For her. For her blood.**

They create a small distance between them. The space amid the two breathless, beaten ninja is held together by a miniscule bond, of family and friends and lovers past. The souls of warriors rested between them, and both the boy with the eternal smile and the boy with the blood-red eyes were forgotten, if only for a second.

**Their eyes soften. Blood pools on the grass, as carefree laughter slices through the morning dew.**

_~End~_

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**A/N: **So there you have if folks. If any of you need clarifying, Sasuke and Naruto are dead. Sakura, heartbroken/bordering on insanity finds Juugo. Juugo is totally enraptured by her beauty, but has a severe case of "I don't want to lose her so I'll just kill her" syndrome. So, they often beat each other up to get the shit (oops, bad word) out. They hate each other and what they've become, but they also love each other with their entire souls. Such is life. TT_TT

And yeah, Naru/Sasu, but only the tiniest hint of it. Review, because it makes the voices go away. :D

~KC


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